. >> president obama this evening said the u.s. now recognizes the main syrian opposition group as the legitimate representative of its country's people. turkish journalism has reported that the new america foundation. two men have returned from the country into the to the west can do more to help the syrian people. [inaudible conversations] >> welcome, everyone. welcome to c-span on the audience. i am very excited about today's events. we have two people with us that have recently come from syria that are able to give us an insight on the perspective of something that is hard to come by. in the context of the syria. to my far right is mohammed ghanem, he has a bachelor's degree in english literature, as well as graduate degree in translation from damascus university. he went on to earn a degree in conflict transformation from the center of justice and peace at the eastern mennonite university in harrisburg, virginia, and he has fought as assistant professor at princeton university. he is a long-term activists. he was active in the